Absentee owner

[Colin24]

Please advise. I will shortly be buying a small cheap sailing boat. The choice has been narrowed down to either a Seamaster 23 or a Corribee ( I favour the Corribee, SWIMBO would prefer the Seamaster.) For my budget I’d get a first rate Corribee, but only a tatty/tired Seamaster, any way the point is this –due to my work pattern the boat will be left un-visited for seven weeks at a time. Then have regular use (mid-week and weekend) for six weeks and this pattern will repeat over and over.
The boat will be bilge keeled and live on a half tide drying mud berth on the East coast. The location is subject to some slight bumping when rising or settling, caused by passing commercial vessels and this for the summer months only.
My question is this, is it reasonable or practical to treat the boat in this way, leaving it unattended for that length of time, or am I asking for trouble?
What are the likely pitfalls (if any) if I proceed with my plan.
What steps or precautions should I take to minimise the problems, bearing in mind I have no choice as to location?


<hr width=100% size=1>No boat.

 

[Mudplugger]

Colin, for the past (more years than I can admit too) I have kept a yacht of some description on a tidal mooring in the R. Colne area, we had commercial traffic until a couple of years ago, and I only had one incident (a Russian freighter went agound and in order to be towed off they had to move me.. the damage was done by the Colchester H.M.) So go for it & enjoy, bear in mind the further up the bank & the softer the mud tghe less likely any problems...Hope this helps..Tony W

<hr width=100% size=1>Tony W.

 

[reginaldon]

It would be wise to have an automatic bilge pump and a solar panel to keep the battery topped up

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[ridgy]

Most boats are owned by "absentee owners". A boat left for 6 weeks then used for 6 weeks would probably qualify as well used!


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[oldharry]

Thew only thing unreasonable is not being able to go sailing for the next 6 weeks! I used to live in the Midlands, and work commitments sometimes meant the boat (a 22ft Westerly) had to look after itself for up to a couple of months at a time.

You do need to make sure the mooring is in 1st class condition - you dont want to be worrying about a bad gale occuring 5 weeks before you can go and check things out. It is worth paying extra if you can get a mooring through a boatyard that will keep an eye on things, secure anything thats unsafe, or ring you if the boat needs attention.

It would be advisable to stow the sails below - jib rollers easily come undone, and someone else might 'borrow' them anyway!

And the 'tired' Seamaster may actually cost you quite alot more to put to rights. Reversing the ageing effect is not cheap if maintenance has not been kept up!

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[Benbow]

>jib rollers easily come undone<

True, I ALWAYS put a sail tie round mine, through the clew cringle, round twice and tie off. Very few others seem to do this, and I have seen several jibs obliterated by unfurling in a gale. Unless you are expecting a hurricane I would rather do this than remove it altogether.

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[StugeronSteve]

I tie my jib off in a similar manner, but I don't think I have ever seen another boat in the marina do it. Forgetting to take it off leads to a bit of head scratching when trying to work out why the furling drum has jammed!

<hr width=100% size=1>Think I'll draw some little rabbits on my head, from a distance they might be mistaken for hairs.

 

[Guest]

<It would be advisable to stow the sails below - jib rollers easily come undone, and someone else might 'borrow' them anyway!

Often because furled gennys are left with a short bit of clew sticking out with sheets taut back to cleat. The short bit of sail flaps and generally pulls on the furled sail and takes any slack it can get by eassing out ..... this gives more for wind to get hopld of and so it gets worse till it finally gives up and bang the sail is knacked.

It is advised to always roll at least 2 turns of sheet around the sail when furling home. Second to secure sheets hard up so that no flapping can occur..... OR as some do - actually pass a lashing around the sail to hold sheets and sail in place.

I regularlyu leave my boat rigged for longer periods and have no problem. I do make sure that before leaving the boat I re-furl the genny nice and tight - not leaving it as the loose bunch often happens when furling just before berthing etc.

Sensible action -sensible results.


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[jimi]

I always wrap the sheets around a few times and make the sheet off on the winch with a lighterman's hitch. Pretty secure.

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[andy_wilson]

Anti-Unfurl Tip

When you leave her, furl up well and tight, with sheets wrapped round several times as already suggested.

Then tie a short line from the tack of the sail by the furling drum to the pulpit rail or similar so it just can't unfurl.

Better still use hank on foresails and rescue a bit of pointing ability. Bilge keels plus furling headsails could make upwind sailing totally reliant on the engine.

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[Guest]

Mines made of with a clove hitch to the winch each side ...... after many years - never had a prob.

Now I shall return to baot and find it all sh.....d !!!


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[oldharry]

Depends how tight you get.....

Well, I never had a problem with mine either. I always make sure it is tightly furled, and the sheets secured so that it can not undo. But this guy is buying his first boat, and hands up anyone who has not seen a shredded roller jib somehwere around the moorings, the morning after a good strong blow?

Its not that the sail is incompletely furled, though that obviously doesnt help matters, it is how tightly furled it is. A loose furled jib will allow the wind to get under the folds, lift the fabric and tease it until it tears. Once the wind has got a grip it very rapidly destroys the sail.

The fact that few insurers will pay for a blown out roller jib left stowed on the spar indicates its a risk they are not willing to take.

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[Guest]

Tight yes, clew hanging yes ...

Most of the boats I have known that have shredded ..... I reckon I have seen 4 or 5 maybe more ..... my memory serves that these tended to have a section of clew not furled ..... the furling was reasonably tight, but the flogging clew acted in the wind ...

I agree that loose furl is a candidate and just as serious ..... both together is disaster.


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[VictorII]

Why let the sun ruin a good jib?

I see many boats with the jib furled all year round. Whenever we are away for more than two weeks, we stow the jib below, to expand its life expectancy. It's not so much of a hassle and it's usually not the wind that destroys the sail (but I also furl the sheet around the sail two turns) but the UV from the sun. Even with an anti-UV strip, the sail lasts much longer when inside.
Victor

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